Olympic trivia
The projectile in badminton, called a shuttlecock, can be real feathers or synthetic. Real feather shuttlecocks, like those used in the Olympics, contain 16 feathers plucked from the left, and only the left, wing of a goose. This ensures consistent rotation.
Dumb rules
1.At the age of 22ish (1970s) Malcolm signed up for the adult apprenticeship building scheme and was duly enrolled for a block course. "After some theory work we were set the task of building three houses on the campus that went on to become the first classrooms for Unitech. There were 30 or so of us so we split into three groups and set about our task. As the weather heated up, the shirts started coming off. Unfortunately this offended the girls studying the secretary course so under threat of fine we were not permitted to strip to the waist. One very hot day I was pinged for this offence and when, taken before the principal of the place, laughed at him when he imposed a $20 fine. After three days of non-payment a workman came down and painted a yellow line. On the houses side of the line we were allowed to be bare-topped because it didn't offend the girls, however, step over the line and we did offend and so had to be covered up!"
2.Onehunga High School in 1969, writes Brenda Barnes. "A co-ed school but boys and girls were not allowed to talk to each other during play time or lunch time. I got a detention for talking to my twin brother. I don't recall him getting a detention as it must have been me doing the talking...
